Shanghai River

We took the kiddies to meet up with Chill today for some bowling down at Riverport in Richmond. Chill happens to be an excellent athlete and subsequently a great bowler. Ever since 1999, he has been troubled by the fact I have a better high score than him. So it was another showdown at the bowling alley. For the third straight day, Costanza joins us for this bowling madness. For some utterly unknown reason, Chill bowls a 67! Not only do Costanza and I beat him handily, the kids beat him! Uh, the kids are 5 years and under... I'm sure Chill is happy that I'm blogging about this.

Anyways, Viv, the kids and I were looking for some grub after the bowling fiasco. We went through some ideas and settled on Shanghai River. I've been to Shanghai River countless times and I really like the food there, it's fresh and generally pretty consistent. We decided to order Shanghainese Dim Sum items for dinner since it is their specialty. However, for the same price that we paid, there are some nice set meals that offer more dinner items. We started with Xiao Long Bao (Shanghai steamed juicy buns), and as usual, they were juicy and delicious. Similar to quite a few Shanghainese restaurants these days, the xiao long bao and noodles are made fresh on the premises (with a viewing area for you to watch). The skin on the xiao long bao was thin; yet it was strong enough to keep the plethora of juice in the buns. The filling's consistency was meaty; yet not gritty and the meat flavour was prevalent. I would say the xiao long bao at Shanghai River is just as good as Shanghai Wonderful and Lin Chinese Cuisine. We also had the pot stickers and the filling was tasty and juicy as well. However, I thought the skin was a tad thick, but that maybe my own personal preference.

I think the Hot and Sour soup at Shanghai River is one of the best in the GVRD. It's just the right consistency and it has a good balance of spicy, sour, sweet and salty. Moreover, the soup has good depth of flavour; an indication that the soup base had been boiled for a long time. Also, the soup was bursting with bamboo shoots, wood ear mushrooms, shrimp, shitake mushrooms, carrots, tofu and egg. We ordered the Chicken Noodles with Preserved Vegetables in Soup for the kiddies. It was not bad, but the overall, it was a bit bland. Lastly, we had the chow neen goh, which is basically rice cake which are cut into slices, then stir fried with pea shoots, cabbage and pork. I really liked this dish, the rice cake was soft and chewy at the same time (you have to try it to understand this). It tasted really good, with just the right amount of dark soy. There are alot of places that make this dish and it's bland.

The dining room at Shanghai River is modern and upscale. The prices are reflective of that; yet, it's not completely unreasonable either. I think the food is worth the price. Moreover, the service is generally efficient and decent; however, it is not up to the standards of an upscale restaurant. The staff are a bit indifferent; yet, they are efficient. With that being said, Shanghai River is a an excellent choice for Shanghainese food in the GVRD. Consequently, Shanghai River is generally a very busy restaurant, so if you don't want to wait, you arrive just as it opens, for lunch and dinner.

The Good:

- Very good xiao long bao

- Food is generally really good

- Dining room is comfortable and clean

The Bad:

- Service is decent, but it should be better
- Crazy, busy restaurant

- Limited amount of parking spots

Shanghai River

7831 Westminster Hwy

Richmond, B.C.

(604) 233-8885